Another Partial Success' photostream  

Watch out - it's the Large and Dark View! Press L - you know you want to!

A return to old stomping grounds of London Wall and the contrast between the curves of the Museum of London walls and the curves of One London Wall - or "OLW" as I believe it's known.

Much as I rail against M'Lord Foster elsewhere in my photostream... it has to be said that he has a good line in curves as his buildings at both ends of London Wall amply demonstrate.
While 1 London Wall may fall into the category of "Yet Another Foster Building" it does have it’s merits – in this case the presence of the Plaisterers Hall within the building. The original Plaisterer’s Hall was further down London Wall on Addle Street and burnt down in the Great Fire… the replacement by Christopher Wren also burnt down in 1882 (is there a theme here?!) and the replacement was completed in the early 70’s within an office development on the site of 1 London wall – it’s this final version of the hall which was retained when the earlier building was demolished.

Within the curved walls to the right is the 'spiral garden' of the Museum of London - the museum itself extending to the centre of the shot, above which is Bastion House. The museum and the block were designed by Philip Powell and Hidalgo Moya of much beloved 'Skylon' fame - as it happens this was their only tower block which is rather a shame.... it resembles a giant matchbox on stilts, which makes it look somewhat precarious, and so has a unique are of danger often absent from today's curves and blue-glass.

In the distance to the right is the lumpen Alban Gate which is actually two towers - one to the north of London Wall and the other over London wall - which replaced the counterpart to Bastion House, Lee House. Before Alban Gate there was a line of four similar Slabs - Bastion, Lee, St Alphage and Moor houses - of which only Bastion and St Alphage remain. Of those on the South side, Royex house disappeared in the 90's and 40 Basinghall Street was revitalised as City Tower.

London Wall also boasts this short section of dual carriageway - the first in a (thankfully) aborted inner-ringroad which in the end only made is far as Moorgate. The mind boggles as to what this would have looked like had the master plan been completed.

I rather like this shot as it contrasts the street light against the blue sky. All feels calm.

Enjoy

As I'd always recommend - hit the L for the Large and Dark view...

The view here is of the site of what was 63 Moorgate - a rather uninspiring office block, but one which hosted one of the ever dwindling sections of the pedway (or highwalk)...originally planned to total over 30 miles in length it strove to "take the pedestrian above the traffic and into the clear air above".

Conceived during the post-war planning of the 1960's the scheme was quite substantial. Apparently there is a somewhat enigmatically titled document called Drawing 3400B which illustrates the full extent planned - to run from Fleet Street to Tower Hill across the whole of The City of London.

Unfortunately the scheme was doomed from the start as it relied on the piecemeal rebuilding of the City to join together sections as they were planned and executed. This meant that there were always gaps... and these became more and more difficult to bridge as the cost of building and maintenance escalated and the momentum of the conservation movement made the destruction of old buildings which stood in the way more and more problematic.

As time went on other problems surfaced - access for emergency services, the increased costs of lighting and change in architectural fashion. This said there is a remarkable amount still around although this is being gradually eroded.

There is much rambling on the Pedways and Highwalks elsewhere in my photostream and across Flickr - m'learned friend Blech is a fan of the Highwalks and has a set dedicated to those around Moorgate and the Barbican. Beechlights and Homemade both have excellent shots of the area too.

Anyway - back to the ill-fated Number 63, now demolished to allow for reworking of Moorgate Station as part of the Crossrail project. The neighbouring building out of view to the right - the combination-of-curves that it m'lord Foster's Moor House - included in it's construction an enormous concrete box designed to house the ticket hall for the station and a 100ft deep ventilation shaft to connect to tunnel which is only now under construction . The scale of the engineering is truly monumental - the foundations of Moor House go down 200ft and are some of the deepest in London, this to provide stability during the construction of Crossrail, and the design includes a platform with a booking-hall at each end... one at Moorgate and the other at Liverpool Street.

As for the site here - I've no idea what the replacement for No. 63 is going to look like... some "challenging and thrusting office environments" along with "retail space" in a tower which makes a "bold statement by contrasting with the surroundings" no doubt.

As a contrast here's a repeat of the link to The Living City - a publicity film for the City of London from 1970 which I stumbled across on YouTube. If you're pushed for time slip forward to around the 16 min mark as there's a secion on the Barbican and area there.

Alternatively grab a cuppa and watch the whole half hour!

Enjoy

Definitely one for the Large and Dark - go on... turn it up loud!

A counterpart to an earlier shot of mine - Celia Celia only this time looking Eastwards towards The City.... and also a return to 'pictures without people in', at least for the timebeing!

The thoroughfare of Holborn runs from the crossing of the Fleet at what was "Oldbourne Bridge" - the river now under Farringdon Street and the bridge replaced with Holborn Viaduct - into the West End terminating at (as I recall) Drury Lane. The road was famed for it's Inns of Court and is steeped in history ranging from the Knights Templar to being the route of the condemned as they travelled from Newgate Prison or the Tower of London to meet their end at the Tyburn gibbet - this was sited at what is now the junction of Edgware Road and Oxford Street (there's a 'memorial' to the gibbet just by the Odeon if you're of a mind to look).

On 'execution days' the road would be lined with spectators as usually the condemned were flogged en route. Other brutal punishments were carried out here, A famous example of this being the punishment of one Titus Oates, a conspirator involved in the Popish Plot in the late 17th Century. His punishment was to stand in the pillory five times a year following which he was whipped from Aldgate to Newgate and on the next day from Newgate to Tyburn. Quite remarkably Oates survived this - although not without the help from supporters and friends - and lived on to be pardoned when William of Orange came to the throne.

On a lighter note - whenever I think of Holborn the late Adrian Mitchell comes to mind. A great author, playwright, political activitst and poet his poem Celia Celia always brings a smile to my face...

When I am sad an weary,
When I think all hope has gone,
When I walk along High Holborn
I think of you with nothing on

Far preferable.

Enjoy

Different from the usual - check it out Large and dark just to be sure what you're seeing!

Yes, acolytes, this is indeed a break from the normal 'no people in sight' photographs by APS which are typical of my photostream and is a genuine bona fide picture of a real life person... to be precise this is Flo who was one of two most excellent models at a recent studio session set up by the amazing fellow Flickrite, Sosij

This being not a picture of a building I'm also at something of a loss for additional description... bar the many thanks to both Sosij and to the indefatigable Black Wolf who supplied the studio equipment... and to Flo, Redcorn and everyone else who helped make the evening such a success.

In a previous life I used to like taking picture of people... and for a long time I haven't... but this session has rekindled that enthusiasm - who knows where this will lead. All encouragement welcome to help fan this re-ignited flame....!

I'll leave you to ponder the possibilities and to..

... enjoy

P.S More of the shots I took can be seen in the Hitchin Photowalks group.

Different from the usual - check it out Large and dark just to be sure what you're seeing!

Yes, acolytes, this is indeed a break from the normal 'no people in sight' photographs by APS which are typical of my photostream and is a genuine bona fide picture of a real life person... to be precise this is Flo who was one of two most excellent models at a recent studio session set up by the amazing fellow Flickrite, Sosij

This being not a picture of a building I'm also at something of a loss for additional description... bar the many thanks to both Sosij and to the indefatigable Black Wolf who supplied the studio equipment... and to Flo, Redcorn and everyone else who helped make the evening such a success.

In a previous life I used to like taking picture of people... and for a long time I haven't... but this session has rekindled that enthusiasm - who knows where this will lead. All encouragement welcome to help fan this re-ignited flame....!

I'll leave you to ponder the possibilities and to..

... enjoy

P.S More of the shots I took can be seen in the Hitchin Photowalks group.